For your own Good
by Salintha
Summary: After a witch casts a spell on Dean during a hunt, nothing seems to be wrong. That is not the case, however. Very slowly, the spell is magnifying Dean's fear of losing Castiel, until finally, he becomes convinced that the only way to keep the angel safe is by keeping him from leaving the bunker. Cas!whump. One shot.


**Another prompt fill, for some reason very similar to the previous one. On AO3 it's divided into four chapters (which begin and end where the cuts are), but I didn't think it was necessary, so I didn't divide the fic here. Also I'm too lazy to post the chapters individually.**

* * *

Castiel pulled his blade out of the witch's back, letting the young man fall to the ground, and he immediately focused on Dean. It had taken them the majority of two whole days until they found him, but the battle hadn't lasted long. However, before they'd managed to kill the witch, he'd managed to thrown a spell Dean's way, which was making Castiel very worried.

The angel looked the hunter over as he helped him get up off the floor of the motel room they were currently in, but Castiel couldn't find anything wrong with Dean. That only made him worry more.

"You okay, man?" asked Sam, clearly just as worried as Castiel as he walked towards the two.

Dean groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, my head hurts like a bitch."

"You did get thrown into a wall," Castiel commented, touching the hunter's hand and healing him. Dean smiled in return and clapped Castiel on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Cas. Much better." He looked like he was about to leave the room, but Sam's hand on his chest stopped him. Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother in reply.

"You sure you're okay, Dean?" Sam asked, putting the hand away. "I mean you did get hit with a spell. Who knows what it did. What it _will_ do."

"I'm fine, okay, Sam?" Dean said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. Castiel and Sam exchanged worried looks, making dean groan. "I'm _fine_. Just peachy. The witch was an amateur, I'm sure he screwed up whatever spell he'd wanted to cast. Now, can we go? Even if I got cursed, or something, we can't do much about it here, and the cops are gonna get here soon."

Castiel frowned but didn't try to stop the hunter when Dean pushed past him. He supposed Dean was right about the police. Sam and Dean had both tried to shoot the witch, so someone must have heard the gunshots. However, that didn't mean he was done keeping an eye on Dean. It was true that the spell could have no effect whatsoever, but the effect could also be gradual, and as much as Castiel didn't want that to be true, he would have to assume that it was the truth until proven otherwise.

So during the entire way back to the bunker, Castiel watched Dean, sometimes looking away when to avoid Dean noticing before continuing as soon as he was sure that danger had passed. It made him realize he hadn't watched Dean like this in years, and by the end of the trip, he was starting to become convinced that Dean had been right.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him still, and it had been five hours since the incident. The angel would have thought he'd at least be able to detect any magic that was effecting Dean by now. Maybe the hunter had been right, and there really was nothing wrong.

Either way, Castiel would stay at least until tomorrow. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Dean that he could help fix or heal just because he'd left before he was sure the hunter wasn't cursed.

Castiel watched the brothers disappear in their rooms, clearly too tired to do anything else but to go to sleep, so the angel strolled to the guest room and lied down on the bed. He didn't close the door, just to make sure he didn't miss any sound in case something happened, even if it were just Dean or Sam having a nightmare.

He knew it was a bit irrational since Castiel had a good enough hearing to not need to leave the door open, but it made him feel less on edge, so he didn't close it. That didn't mean he was relaxed by any meaning of the word, though.

Every few minutes he looked away from the ceiling into the hallway, expecting something to happen, but it didn't. Castiel spent the entire night like this, too distracted by his worry for Dean that he couldn't even think for longer stretched of time and utilize the time he had on hand, much less sleep. At six, he finally got up with a tired sigh.

He wished he knew how to cook, so he could make Sam and Dean something for breakfast, but since he wanted to avoid causing a potential disaster in the kitchen, Castiel just stuck with making coffee. At least he knew he could make that without anything blowing up in his face.

Once the coffee was prepared, he poured himself a cup and sat down at the table, slowly drinking the hot beverage. Caffeine did nothing for him, but he'd grown to crave the taste after the years he'd been on Earth with the brothers. Thankfully, before Castiel started thinking about the many missteps he'd made over those years, Dean walked in.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel greeted the man as he immediately walked to the coffee maker. The angel frowned at Dean as he tried to find any hints of the spell, but there was still nothing. Maybe Dean had been right – the witch had been very inexperienced, after all.

"Hey, Cas," Dean replied once he got his own cup of coffee and sat down opposite the angel. "Still expecting me to drop dead any moment, huh?"

Castiel scowled. He knew Dean was joking, but this was not something he should be joking about. Ever. He'd died enough. "This is serious, Dean."

Dean sighed, but he didn't seem exasperated. It was more of a fond smile than anything. "Look, Cas, I'm fine. Really. If that bastard put some spell on me, you could tell, right?"

Castiel shrugged. He wasn't all that confident in his abilities anymore, so he couldn't confirm that.

The rest of the day went by without any problems, so having found a hunt, Castiel decided he would leave at the end of the day and deal with what seemed to be a werewolf. He didn't want to overstay his welcome, but he also didn't want to leave without a real reason. He did notice, though, that Dean had spent a lot of time around Castiel over the day. At least much more than usually. Not that the angel was complaining.

Also, despite Sam pretended annoyance, it had been decided that Sam and Dean would have a Star Wars marathon, which was one more reason Castiel should leave. He didn't want to bother them, and with how many hunts they'd been on lately, Castiel only being joining them on a small fraction of which, they earned some relaxation.

Just as Castiel was about to head to the garage, Dean's voice behind him stopped him.

"Where are you going, Cas?" Castiel's heart clenched as he turned around. Dean sounded almost hurt by the fact that the angel had been planning on leaving. Why would he be hurt by that? "Didn't Sam tell you we're gonna watch Star Wars?"

Castiel was about to confirm that Sam had indeed told him, but then he realized something. "You mean… _we_?" He gestured first to himself and then to Dean.

"Yeah, dumbass, we. As in, me, you, and Sam."

Castiel gave Dean a small smile, a sense of relief washing over him. They (or at least Dean) wanted him to not only be here, but to watch movies with them. However, his happiness was short lived because then a he remembered a second later that he'd found a hunt, and if he stayed, someone else might die.

"Wait," Castiel said as Dean turned around, assuming that the angel would follow him. "I found a hunt about four hours from here. And I should-"

Dean stopped abruptly, turning around with something close to panic in his eyes. It was gone in a second, though, and the hunter now seemed fondly exasperated, so Castiel pushed his worry and anxiousness away for now.

"That's where you were going, huh?" Dean said, putting his right hand on the angel's shoulder. "Cas, buddy, it's way too late to go on a hunt. Let's just have some beer and popcorn, and worry about this in the morning."

Castiel wanted to protest, but the hopeful look Dean was giving him made him lose all will to argue, and just let himself be led to Dean's room of all places. Castiel supposed that made sense though since there was a TV and a very comfortable bed. Also, everything in the room smelled like Dean, which always made Castiel feel more peaceful, but he wasn't going to mention that because he knew very well how uncomfortable that would make the hunter.

Castiel took off his coat and settled down on the bed, only then realizing that he hadn't asked Dean if he could, but since Dean didn't seem to be bothered by this at all, Castiel relaxed again, and when Sam entered the room and gave Castiel a beer, the angel accepted it with a 'thank you', not saying anything about not being able to become drunk from such a small amount of alcohol.

Something strange happened after the third beer, though. Castiel had fallen asleep, which would be strange enough as it was, but that was really not what Castiel was thinking about when he felt his right hand being pulled at.

He groaned, feeling incredibly tired and confused as he tried to pull his hand away, but it seemed he wasn't strong enough. Finally, his eyes flew open when he felt cold metal snap shut around his wrist.

The angel stared for a moment at the cuff in shock, which slowly turned into horror as his dazed mind put together that he was still in Dean's room, and the person who'd cuffed him to the headboard was the owner of said room.

"Dean?" Castiel mumbled, tugging at the cuff as he blinked owlishly at Dean. "What…?"

"Sorry, Cas," the hunter said, sounding genuinely remorseful, but he didn't seem to plan on free Castiel anytime soon. "It's for your own good."

Castiel frowned. "I don't understand."

Dean smiled at him sadly, and then looked away. "I…ugh, damn it, I love you."

Castiel choked on nothing. "W-what?" This had to be a dream, or some strange hallucination. There was no way Dean had actually said those words, much less to him.

"You heard me," Dean said, sitting down next to Castiel. "Do _you_?" Dean waved his hand. "You know…"

"Yes," Castiel replied immediately, his mind having cleared a bit after Dean's confession. The angel still wasn't convinced this was reality, but he'd waited and hoped for years for Dean to love him back, so he couldn't just ignore it. However, the fact that he was cuffed to Dean's bed ruined the moment a bit. "But, Dean. I still don't understand." He tugged on the cuff again to draw attention back to it.

Dean took a hold of both of the angel's shoulders. "I'm tired of losing you, of you leaving, of you getting hurt…" Dean swallowed, pain clearly visible in his emerald eyes. "So, from now on you're gonna stay here, and everything's gonna be fine."

Oh. So that was the effect of the spell. It was rather strange, but there was no other explanation. Dean would never keep Castiel a prisoner in the bunker just to keep him safe, so he was definitely under the effect of something. And that was probably why he'd just told the angel he loved him.

"Dean, please, it's the spell," Castiel tried, but Dean wasn't listening.

"Don't worry, buddy," Dean said, burying his fingers in Castiel's hair. "I'll get you something more comfortable than the handcuffs."

"You can't keep me here, Dean," Castiel said firmly, and Dean's expression darkened.

"If it means I'll never have to see you get hurt again, you bet I can." Then he squeezed Castiel's right shoulder and got up. "I'll be back soon."

"Wait, Dean!" Castiel tried calling out after the hunter, but he didn't stop, proceeding to close the door behind him and lock it. Castiel let his shoulders slump slightly. He had to tell Sam what was happening, but like this, his coat, and therefore his phone, was out of his reach.

Castiel burrowed his face in his hands. He had to fix this, but he had no idea how.

* * *

It took almost two hours for Dean to return, which Castiel had spent by trying to reach his coat, and when he realized that it couldn't be done, he moved onto pulling on handcuffs as much as he could, hoping that they would either break, or the bedpost would.

At least whatever Dean had used to drug him had made its way out of his system now.

He would have tried calling out to Sam, but he didn't want to risk Dean hearing him instead. Who knew how he'd react in his current state.

Castiel suddenly realized that it might not have been such a good idea to fight the cuffs so much since his wrist was now bleeding, and with Dean's newfound obsession with keeping the angel from harm, Castiel was certain the hunter wouldn't react well.

When he heard the door being unlocked, Castiel turned to face it, watching it anxiously, wondering what Dean was planning on doing with him now that he was done with whatever he'd been busy with.

The answer to that was much worse than Castiel had been expecting. Dean was now smiling at him apologetically, holding a thick leather collar, no doubt covered in sigils to keep Castiel powerless. Castiel immediately got up and tried to put as much distance between him and Dean as his chained hand allowed, but that only made it easier for Dean to spot the torn up skin.

"Dammit, Cas, what were you thinking?" Dean asked, shaking his head as he walked over to the angel and started inspecting his wrist. "C'mon, let's get this on you so I can do something about the wound."

He waved the collar in front of Castiel, who did his best to sink into the wall. He did not want that anywhere near him, but with only his left arm to defend himself, it would be all too easy for Dean to overpower him, so all he really could do was try to reason with him.

"Dean, please, this isn't you," Castiel tried, but he was firmly ignored. He did his best to hinder Dean's attempts at putting the collar around his neck, but he wasn't very successful. Already, Dean had managed to force it on him, and was now in the process of tightening it just right, so it wouldn't be choking the angel and, at the same time, there would be no chance he'd be able to remove it.

"The spell is making you paranoid," Castiel continued as Dean finished securing the collar with a heavy padlock.

"Oh, really?" Dean asked sarcastically, unlocking the handcuffs. "How many times have you died now?"

"How many times have _you_ died?" Castiel shot back, rubbing his still bleeding wrist. It didn't help in the slightest, and it only made him feel more resentful towards the piece of leather around his neck that was preventing him from healing such a small injury.

"Yeah, well, at least you know where I am most of time. When you leave, you barely pick up the fucking phone," Dean snapped, but he sounded more hurt than angry.

Castiel looked down guiltily. He hadn't known Dean felt this way. When away from Sam and Dean, Castiel didn't call them often, especially if only to ask how they were doing, because he always felt like he would only be bothering them. He also wasn't the best at remembering to charge his phone, which certainly didn't help.

But then he remembered that Dean was not himself currently, and anything he said could very well not be the truth at all.

"That doesn't justify _this_ ," Castiel said with indignation, pulling on the collar, but he was quickly stopped by Dean's hand wrapping itself around his wrist and pulling his hand away from the humiliating leather object.

"I don't like this anymore than you do, Cas," said Dean, glaring at the collar, as if the very sight of it offended him, but it clearly didn't bother him enough to take it off. "But I can't trust you not to run off. At least this is better than the handcuffs. It's not uncomfortable, right?"

Castiel supposed the only thing the collar was hurting was his pride, but he didn't say it. He didn't feel like going along with this.

Dean sighed, stroking Castiel's uninjured wrist with his thumb before slowly letting go of the angel completely. "I'll go get something to treat that," he said, looking down at Castiel's other wrist. "Wait here for a bit."

Castiel nodded since Dean seemed to be waiting for him to respond, already thinking about where Dean kept knifes in his room. The angel watched the hunter leave before quickly searching through any drawers he could find.

It thankfully didn't take a long time to find a knife, and Castiel, hopeful that he would be able to make it in time, pushed the knife in the space between the collar and his neck, and started trying to cut the leather.

It didn't go that well, but he could tell he was making progress, which urged him to cut faster and faster. When he finally managed to cut through the whole collar and it fell to the ground with a soft thump, Castiel almost couldn't believe it.

He breathed out in relief as control over his grace returned to him, and then he started focusing on escaping again.

Dean had locked the door, but with the angel's enhanced strength, it was a simple matter of breaking the lock. The only problem was how much noise it had made. Castiel cringed a little, but he didn't dare waste time.

Dean knew very well how to keep an angel under control, as he'd just demonstrated, and so Castiel had to disappear, or find Sam, before Dean noticed he was gone. Ironically, Castiel had taught him and Sam most of the sigils that had been carved into the collar, which did nothing to help him.

It was most likely better to get away from the bunker. He didn't have his phone, having left it in Dean's room, but he knew Sam's number, and he could simply call him from a payphone. If he spent time looking for Sam, he was most likely to get caught by Dean again, and he would never be able to bring himself to hurt the hunter.

Castiel didn't get far.

As soon as he made a turn to the hallway leading to the garage, flames erupted around him, and suddenly he was standing in the middle of a circle of holy fire with Dean looking at him with a mix of disappointment, anger, fear, and hurt.

"I told you I couldn't trust you not to run away, and as soon as I turn my back, you're already trying to leave." Castiel wanted to snap something back at him, but then Dean threw handcuffs at him, which the angel automatically caught. "Put those on."

Castiel glared at him, but he knew not doing it was pointless. Dean could keep him trapped for a very long time with how much holy oil there was in the bunker. With a sigh he did as he'd been told, cuffing his own hands together, and becoming powerless once more.

Dean waited for the fire to die down, and as soon as that happened, he took a hold of Castiel's arm and began dragging him back to Dean's room.

Or so Castiel had thought, until they walked past it, and instead he was pulled towards the guest room he sometimes used.

"You'll stay here until I'm sure you learned your lesson. Try to get away again, and I'll lock you in the dungeon," Dean threatened, but it was incredibly obvious he didn't want to do any of this. If only he didn't think he had to. "And don't even bother trying to get Sam's attention. He's on a hunt in Nebraska."

The door slammed shut in Castiel's face, and he hung his head as he heard it being locked. Once he was sure Dean was gone, the angel sat down on the floor and leaned into the door, glaring at his cuffed hands. How was he supposed to break metal?

He sighed tiredly and hugged his knees. He'd been so close…

* * *

Castiel sat on the bed, rubbing his temples. He'd looked everywhere for anything that could help him get the door open, or get the handcuffs off, but there was just nothing. He cursed himself for never putting something of his here. On one hand, he'd never felt sure about whether he actually could, and he also didn't own many things that he could actually put in the room, but if he had, maybe he'd have a chance at getting away.

Then again, maybe even if he could leave the room, Dean would most likely manage to stop him like he had before.

Castiel wondered what the hunter was doing. He'd been locked here for about twenty hours now with no contact, and although he'd done his best to listen to any noise in the hallway, no matter how small, in all those hours he hadn't heard anything. It was like Dean had left altogether, but Castiel doubted that were true.

Dean was obsessed with keeping Castiel safe and here, which meant that he was going to keep an eye on him. If Dean were to be believed, he even sent Sam on a hunt just so he wouldn't interfere with whatever the man was planning on doing.

It made Castiel wonder if Dean realized what he was doing was wrong, and he didn't want Sam to talk him out of it, or if he just knew Sam would try to put a stop to it, and that was why he wanted him out of the way.

Castiel sighed. Probably the latter.

Dean seemed to think taking away Castiel's freedom was worth keeping him safe. Castiel didn't agree, but there was no room for his opinion.

Castiel looked up when he heard the door being unlocked, and as soon as Dean opened it, it was as if the angel's legs had a mind of their own because then he was pushing past Dean and running out of the room as fast as he could.

His attempt at escaping only lasted a few seconds, though, before Dean's arms wrapped themselves around him from behind, and Castiel was being dragged back into the guest room. The angel trashed and struggled in the hold, but Dean was stronger than him like this, and soon he was pushed against a wall.

"Why do you keep trying to leave me?" Dean growled, but he sounded so heartbroken that Castiel couldn't look Dean in the eye. He didn't resist too much when Dean put another collar around his neck, this time a metal one with leather padding, so there was no way Castiel could get rid of it like he had done before.

"Why can't you see I'm doing what's best for you?" Dean asked, sounding a little like he was losing his sanity at this point. Castiel's stomach tied itself into knots. What if the spell made Dean go mad? And Castiel certainly wasn't helping the situation by constantly trying to escape.

"I'm sorry," Castiel said softly, mostly because he truly was sorry for making Dean so distressed, and also because he wanted to see what kind of effect it would have on the hunter.

It seemed going along with Dean's delusion was the best way to keep the man from going crazy because he seemed to calm down a little. Dean unlocked the handcuffs, and stroked the side of Castiel's face gently, leaning in and clearly intending to kiss him.

Oh, how much Castiel had wanted that to happen for years. But he couldn't let himself have it. Not like this, not when Dean wasn't himself. So Castiel looked down, turning his head away.

Dean seemed to get the message, although that didn't mean he didn't look sad and disappointed because of it, and he wrapped his hand around Castiel's wrist.

"C'mon," he said, tugging at the angel's arm to make him follow Dean. Castiel shut his eyes, letting himself be lead to whatever Dean had come up with to keep him here. He'd seen the look Dean gave him when he was putting the collar on him – Dean wasn't done just yet.

Castiel stroked his fingers against the metal around his neck, feeling more sigils carved into it than before, but they all had the same function – keeping an angel powerless. Castiel was glad Dean had limited knowledge when it came to sigils, and he couldn't create his own. Who knew what the hunter might come up with, otherwise.

He was led downstairs and in the direction of the dungeon, and Castiel sighed. Dean had promised to lock him there if he tried to escape again, so this really shouldn't have been surprising.

What was surprising, however, was the fact that Dean stopped in front of a seemingly random door, and when Dean opened it and turned on the light, Castiel's eyes widened in shock.

The room was small and mostly empty except for a human-sized cage in the corner that made Castiel's heart sink. All over the walls were so many sigils that it was making Castiel's head hurt, and as soon as Dean pulled the angel into the room, he felt the little strength he had left dissipate, leaving Castiel barely able to stand upright.

He wanted to try and reason with Dean, but he quickly found out that he couldn't speak. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He frantically scanned the walls, quickly finding the three sigils whose combination had such an effect, and hung his head in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Cas," Dean said when he noticed Castiel's reaction. "I can't let you call Sam here when he gets back."

Having no strength to resist, Castiel let himself be pushed into the cage. He fell to his knees without Dean supporting him and looked up at the hunter, watching him lock the cage's door with three padlocks. Castiel somehow doubted that he would be able to break out even if there was only one padlock, but having no voice at the moment, he couldn't exactly say his opinion.

Not that Dean would listen to him anyway.

In one last attempt at getting Dean to let him go, Castiel gripped the bars of the cage and looked at Dean as pleadingly and desperately as he could. It was clearly working judging by Dean's regretful expression, but then he took a step back away from the cage, and Castiel's newfound spark of hope was snuffed out.

"I-I'm sorry, Cas. You'll be safe here," Dean said, swallowing thickly. "I'll be back soon, I promise. We can finish that Star Wars marathon, huh? I'll bring my laptop." With that Dean backed out of the room, and closed the door.

Castiel scooted back so his back was up against the bars, and curled in on himself, hugging his knees, and buried his face in his knees.

There was no way he could get out of here, not without Sam's help. But how could Sam find him now that Castiel had no way of giving away his location? It would be hard enough to get Sam to hear him even if he could yell, but like this…

If he at least had something he could hit the bars of the cage with, but unfortunately he didn't.

Castiel sighed again. He just hoped Dean wouldn't do anything to Sam when he returned.

* * *

Although Dean never let Castiel out of the cage, he spent a lot of time with him. The angel was sure he did this at least partly because the hunter was now paranoid enough that he thought Castiel would disappear if he didn't check on him often enough.

It was difficult seeing Dean so distressed every time he entered the room, but he always seemed to calm down after seeing Castiel. It made his imprisonment at least slightly bearable.

Dean visited him so often that Castiel didn't even bother looking up whenever the door opened, so when he heard Sam say his name, it completely took him by surprise. He stared at the younger brother dumbly for a moment, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating him, or not.

"Shit, Cas, are you okay?" Sam asked, keeping his voice down, probably to avoid Dean hearing him. Castiel nodded, looking worriedly at the door behind Sam. What would Dean do if he saw Sam here? What would he do if came here, and Castiel was gone?

"You can't talk?" Sam asked, immediately catching on. "What did Dean do to you?"

Castiel pointed at the sigils on the wall.

"Okay. I'll get you out of here, Cas." Sam started picking open the padlocks holding the cage door shut, and in just about a minute or so, it swung open. Castiel tried to get up, using the bars to lift himself up, but he would have ended up falling down again if Sam hadn't caught him.

Castiel sighed in relief as, with the help of Sam, he left the room and some of his strength returned.

"Thank you, Sam," Castiel breathed, waiting for the hunter to take off the collar. "We need to save Dean and lift the spell." He closed his eyes for a moment when the collar left his neck, and the bonds holding his grace locked down disappeared, the wound on his wrist healing immediately.

Sam sighed. "I know. I knew something was up when he told me to go on a hunt alone because he wasn't feeling good. I wanted to warn you, so I sent you a text, but I guess I didn't send it soon enough."

Castiel shook his head at Sam's guilty tone of voice. "Dean drugged my beer the night before you left. You couldn't have done anything."

Sam grimaced, but didn't argue. "I went back to where the witch was staying and found a book with spells. I think I found a spell to counter the one he cast on Dean, but need to find some ingredients, and-"

"Sam?" Dean's voice said, and both Sam and Castiel turned to look at Dean, who seemed to be barely holding it together. "I won't let you take Cas away from me." Dean started advancing on Sam, but Castiel easily stopped him, pushing him against the wall and touching his forehead, making him fall asleep.

Castiel quickly grabbed Dean to stop him from falling down and looked down at the hunter regretfully, before gently letting him down, so he was sitting, leaning on the wall.

"I don't think he needs to be awake for the spell," Sam said, sounding a bit shaken. Castiel frowned, looking at the man.

"Are you okay, Sam?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just…I didn't expect him to be so…" Sam trailed off, staring at Dean. "Uh, I'll go get the ingredients."

Castiel nodded at him. "I'll keep an eye on Dean."

Sam, wanting to put an end to the spell as much as Castiel, immediately went to find what he needed for the counter spell, leaving Castiel alone with an unconscious Dean.

Castiel sighed sadly, looking down at the hunter. As much as Castiel wanted Dean to be okay again, it would also mean he would have to leave again if he didn't want to make thing awkward. Dean would probably be angry with him for not putting a stop to this sooner, and if not, he would definitely want to avoid the angel after saying that he loved him and almost kissing him.

After about five minutes Sam returned with everything they needed to cast the spell, and said casting was over so quickly that neither the hunter nor the angel were sure if it had done anything. There was just one way of finding out, though, so Castiel woke Dean up.

There were a few tense seconds of Dean looking at them blankly, and them staring back at him before Dean seemed to remember what had happened, and his expression changed into a horrified one.

Castiel really hated seeing that look on Dean's face.

"I…I'm so-" Dean began to apologize as he slowly got up, but Castiel interrupted him.

"It's okay, Dean. None of this was your fault."

Dean didn't look like he agreed.

"Yeah, Cas is right, Dean. It was the spell," Sam added, and Dean shook his head.

"That doesn't make it okay. None of it! I locked Cas in a cage for fuck's sake." Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, and then turned around and left, presumably to find alcohol. Castiel sighed again. He hadn't expected this to go any other way, honestly, but it was still disappointing.

"Don't worry, Cas, he'll get over it," Sam said, patting the angel's shoulder. Castiel nodded, but inside he didn't agree. As long as he was here to remind Dean of what had happened every time he saw the angel, Dean wouldn't get over it.

Deciding that it really would be best if he left, Castiel walked to Dean's room, assuming that his coat was still there and hoping that Dean wasn't.

Both of the assumptions turned out to be correct, so Castiel quickly put on his coat, feeling a bit better just because of it, but before he left he started thinking about whether he should go talk to Dean first.

It would be much easier to just leave without saying anything, but after the last couple of days, it really didn't feel right. With a grimace, Castiel set out to find Dean, which turned out to be easier than he'd thought.

Dean was sitting at the table in the kitchen, a beer in front of him and a hand over his eyes. He didn't even seem to notice that Castiel had entered the room until the angel cleared his throat.

"You're leaving," Dean commented emotionlessly. "Can't blame you."

Castiel glared at Dean. "This wasn't your fault, Dean. I'm not leaving because I don't want to be around you. I'm leaving because…" Castiel trailed off, looking down.

"Cas?" Dean asked, getting up and walking closer to the angel.

"My presence would only make everything awkward," Castiel said quietly. "I don't want you to feel that way in your home."

Dean sighed and pulled Castiel into a tight hug. "Dammit, Cas. This is your home, too. And we've been through much worse than this."

"It's not that."

Dean pulled away. "Then what?"

"You said you loved me," Castiel replied, dragging his gaze up to look at Dean, who blushed slightly.

"W-well, that's 'cause I do."

"W-what?" Castiel stammered in shock.

"I have for years," Dean continued, and this time when he leaned in to kiss him, Castiel didn't resist, melting into the kiss and closing his eyes.

And he knew he would stay.


End file.
